In December, a BBB accredited business located in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin had its identity stolen by a scam company. The scammers created a web address that was very similar to the real company's web address, and then put the real company's physical address as its own address on this bogus website.
Once unhappy consumers were unable to get ahold of the "customer service" representatives at the fake company, they used the address on the fake company's website to find an alternate telephone number. That's when the real company began receiving phone calls from the scam company's customers. In essence, the real company's name was "hijacked" by scammers. Fortunately, the real company notified the BBB, who worked to have the bogus website shutdown.
The Wisconsin BBB is warning businesses that this could happen to you! If your company has a website, you should regularly search for your company's name, address and telephone number on the internet. You may be surprised at what you find!
If you discover that your company's name has been hijacked, contact law enforcement officials and the
BBB.